matchday thread Inverness CT -V- Kilmarnock

[caley100]

Well needed 3 points, but by feck that second half was dire!!    we did the simple things wrong and when we had chances we took the wrong choice.

Meekings HAS to go back into central defence with Warren, drop Devine, and play Horner /Raven at RB!  

Anyway, delighted with the result and another of the same next week and it will be a happy xmas/birthday for me!!!!

[+DoofersDad]

Why do we make it so difficult for ourselves?  It's great to get the 3 points. of course, but Kilmarnock were so poor that we could and should have taken them to the cleaners.  The BBC report, referring to a period when we were 1 up, summed things up well when it said "The home fans began to voice their frustration as their side seemed to develop a tendency to play the ball backwards when an attack looked possible."

In the 2nd half Kilmarnock  had to score and pushed forward more.  Instead of exploiting the space created and trying to kill the game off we continued with the passing at the back and generally trying to play it narrow through the middle.  This allowed the opposition to regroup and cover.  It allowed them to keep pressure on us in our own half and gave them hope. Generally we passed the ball about crisply and tidily but there was rarely any end product.  Polworth played well and was looking to get forward and both Mutombo and Sho-Silva showed some ambition to get forward when they came on and the game was more stretched.  But at the end of the day, I think their keeper (who had no chance with either goal) only had one save to make. 

It should have been a comfortable win but in the end it was a nervy one.  Unless we can have a bit more urgency getting forward and create more chances, we are going to struggle to keep out of the relegation zone this season. 

[ICTGAZ]

Some excellent passing early doors and thought Polworth put in a great shift. Good to see a decent sized squad at the warm up and a full bench, things on the up. Another 3pts next week please!

[+HawkeyeTheGnu]

1 hour ago, ICTGAZ said:

Another 3pts next week please!

That's a biggie. 

[bdu98196]

Lets not get carried away, killie were awful but we werent much better. We move the ball to slowly forward, we play 3 in midfield behind storey yet they seem scared or unwilling to break and move forward in support instead sitting or dropping back.

Too often loose passes in the midfield from polworth and wed, vincent played well and got everywhere and vigurs had a decent game contibuting more than he has in any game ive seen him.

meekings is wasted on the right especially when we look weak in the middle with devine still off form. We need either raven or horner right back and tremarco on the left that way williams can be further up field and support storey.

Both the subs yet again fail to bring much both had good chances but made poor decisions whether thats lack of fitness, confidence or game time its yet unclear but after half a season they have contributed nothing so have a lot to prove but i dont see that in their play yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Eagle4Caley]

Sounds like a typical Caley win this season good enough for 20mins to win the game, then a bit rubbish and hanging on, mind you that was a bit of our story last year, but were probably better for longer periods of each game and good had enough for the cup run. Interesting defensive line up at the moment, Raven/Tremarco not first choice full backs, will we be looking for a new RB come the summer. Good to see Vigurs on the score sheet,.... have we seen the last of Christie because of injury. If we can't retain Storey after his loan spell, life could get interesting again in the New Year

Anyway three points is three points, lets hope we don't gift Dundee Utd an early Christmas present next week, although somehow I can see it being 1-1 with Mckay getting on the scoresheet again

[Ronaldo]

I find it mind boggling that Warren and Meetings aren't played alongside each other when both fit!?

IMO they are the best defensive pairing we have ever had. They understand and compliment each other perfectly, I just don't get it..........

 

 

 

[Ronaldo]

Meekings even.......

 

 

 

 

 

[AlexJones]

I think Meekings has done pretty well at right back. He's probably overall a more sturdy defender than Raven and a bigger physical presence for set piece situations, but his end product at the other end isn't as good. Raven chips in with assists and goals whereas Josh all too often balloons his crosses into the stand and rarely gets into goal scoring positions. I also don't get why we don't use Meekings long throw in since we put him back on the right. It's almost as good as a corner, he's the SPL version of Rory Delap, but for some reason we have an aversion to putting the ball in the box. Same story with free kicks, almost always taken short in situations where every other team in the league would get the big men up and put it in. When you see how good guys like Warren, Draper or Devine are in the air, you have to wonder how many goals we would actually score if we gave these guys the service. We could easily be leading the chart for goals scored from set pieces. As it is I reckon we're probably near the bottom.

Edited December 13, 2015 by AlexJones

[+DoofersDad]

Put the ball into the box from a free kick?  Don't be silly - we might lose possession!

[+bughtmaster]

Having watched the highlights and read the comments I am surprised so many knickers are getting twisted. We really were quite convincing winners, all that bothers me is the number of wasted and missed opportunities there were for us. We should have had a barrow-load of goals. Never mind, at least we are making the chances which means eventually the goals will keep coming.

Admittedly it was the highlights I watched so I may have got the wrong impression. To me there were many positives there especially the three points we picked up.

[Renegade]

1 hour ago, AlexJones said:

I think Meekings has done pretty well at right back. He's probably overall a more sturdy defender than Raven and a bigger physical presence for set piece situations, but his end product at the other end isn't as good. Raven chips in with assists and goals whereas Josh all too often balloons his crosses into the stand and rarely gets into goal scoring positions. I also don't get why we don't use Meekings long throw in since we put him back on the right. It's almost as good as a corner, he's the SPL version of Rory Delap, but for some reason we have an aversion to putting the ball in the box. Same story with free kicks, almost always taken short in situations where every other team in the league would get the big men up and put it in. When you see how good guys like Warren, Draper or Devine are in the air, you have to wonder how many goals we would actually score if we gave these guys the service. We could easily be leading the chart for goals scored from set pieces. As it is I reckon we're probably near the bottom.

Agree with a lot of this.  We seem to trying to play in a way that's so pure, anything that's considered un-footballing is looked upon as something we shouldn't do.  Long throws are unpure, long range shooting is unpure, counter-attacking is unpure, wingers beating a man and crossing into the box is looked upon as embarrassing.  It makes no sense.  We seem to be playing with the mentality that possession is everything.  It isn't.  Something you want to control in the game yes, but it isn't the be-all-and-end-all of life.

For my money, our best defence is Raven-Warren-Meekings-Williams and it's time we went to it.  I don't have a problem with Meekings at right-back per se, but I would only really put him there in emergency situations.

Again yesterday I was really impressed with Liam Polworth and those calling for the inclusion of Wedderburn were proven right.  I thought he had a good game and should always be the go-to man whenever Draper is out.  

Edited December 13, 2015 by Renegade